Awake from his slumber, Jack looked around the room while trying to remember what happened yesterday, while keeping the dream wasteland at the back of his head.
I remember I chatted with Bren and Aldric all the way into midnight. We only went home when we saw the tavern was closing, and that was when the two moons were at their zenith.
Jack took a breath and looked around. The air was warm and slightly stale.
He had slept on the floor on a patterned red cushion. The room was very clean, with polished wooden beams that had no sharp corners, though unlike the apothecary shop's woodwork they weren't shining.
There was an old beautifully carved wooden desk, very well maintained, with clear wear on its surface. Two simple wooden windows looked out at an apartment building made of granite and another of red brick painted white.
Looking forward there was a closet, and to the left of it an old single-person bed, just as beautiful as the desk.
A tanned blond man slept atop the bed, basking in the faint morning sunlight filtering through the windows. For reasons best left unexplained, he was completely naked, the sheets barely preserving his modesty.
Don't tell me..
Jack quickly checked himself. He was still clothed and safe. It was just that Bren was weird like that.
Damn it Bren! Don't just sleep naked with another man in the same room!
Jack quickly looked away, moving his hair back with his right hand.
A very loud knock hit the door, like a large piece of wood striking it multiple times. Bren jumped out of bed.
Behind it, a soft woman's voice. "Jack. Bren.. get up, you need to get to work."
It was spoken in the most innocent and harmless way possible.
Jack stood there stunned at the contrast between the knock and the voice. Looking behind him he saw a very sturdy, very thick wooden door — the kind that made such a morning routine possible without consequence.
Rubbing his eyes with his left hand, Jack got up. Bren walked toward the cabinet. Jack moved his gaze to the windows rather than witness Bren's birthday suit.
The sky was a beautiful reddish. Yesterday's clouds were nowhere to be seen.
He walked to the window and looked down at the street. It was narrow — the apartment building on the other side could be touched if you stretched hard enough. This building and the ones around it were two stories tall.
Jack watched the people below moving along and began to think.
From what I got out of them yesterday when drinking, all three of us were doing all sorts of odd jobs around the port. Jack made some money but it was just enough to feed himself two days for each day worked. So how is it that Bren is living in such a place? Is it co-inhabited with other families?
Bren's slightly tired voice came from behind him. "Let's go. If we start early the three of us can finish the job and may even do others!"
Jack scratched his neck with his left hand, stretched, and spoke. "Alright, let's go."
Walking out of the room, Jack saw a small narrow hallway with another door leading to a neighboring room. At the end of it the stairs went down into the wall, turned at brick, then right again into another wall, finishing at the bottom floor.
A small corridor opened into the dining area where the rest of Bren's family was eating breakfast. To the right of the corridor was another room that looked like a bedroom.
"Morning." Bren and Jack greeted them almost simultaneously.
There were four people at the table. Bren's parents, a younger man who was slightly older than Bren, and an older man sitting at the head.
Bren walked to the table and picked up one of the large family breads, ripped it in half, then ripped that half again and gave one piece to Jack.
The old man at the head of the table watched the two of them standing and asked Bren, his voice slightly sad. "Are you going to work without sitting and eating with us yet again?"
Bren took a bite of the soft bread before speaking. "'m sorry pop, but if I don't go early the boss will give the good jobs to the other guys."
The old man pursed his lips and nodded. "Alright then. Don't work yourself too hard."
Bren smiled. "Sure thing pop!"
. . .
Nearby the port, where the captains and guards had argued.
Walking between the buildings was a girl wearing a simple black cloak, carrying a black cat in her arms. Beneath the cloak she wore a black suit top adorned with a golden pocket watch, a matching white shirt and a red tie, and a semi-long black skirt that fell just above her knees.
Her face was young, late teens verging on adulthood. The hood covered her head but a long blonde braid hung down from under it, easy to miss. Her eyes were a bright auburn, almost indistinguishable from red.
She walked toward one of the men moving around the port.
"Excuse me, sir?"
The man looked down, slightly surprised. "Yes, missy?"
She lifted the black cat up by the base of its front legs, letting its lower body dangle.
"Mrreeeow!"
The cat clearly didn't like it but didn't oppose her either.
With the cat held out in front of her she pointed in a direction. "Are the warehouses that way?"
The man looked confused and pointed to the right of where she was pointing with her cat. "It's that way."
She retracted the cat, then stretched her right hand until it reached the man's face.
"We never met."
At that moment the pocket watch in her pocket made a loud DING and ticked backward.
By the time the man regained his senses he looked left, then right, then quickly went about his business.